Thursday, May 28, 2015

The exact nature and scope of human consciousness is
something great thinkers, philosophers and scientists have puzzled over for
centuries. It certainly seems like the
more we think we understand
consciousness, the more there is to learn, and experience.

It was once called the
great mystery, but more contemporary thinkers have labeled it the grand illusion, following Albert
Einstein's lead in considering all of reality as merely an elaborate illusion,
albeit a very persistent one.

More recently some folks have built upon that paradigm by
suggesting that reality and consciousness
is holographic in nature, while others insist that we all exist within some
kind of a computer simulation. When the
obvious first question is asked regards to the operators of such holographic or
computer programs; the popular answer is usually either our future selves, or
maybe aliens.

The next question is usually something about what purpose or
use such an artificial simulation might serve.
The answers here tend to be numerous and creative without being terribly
convincing. It's a test. It's a game,
It's enslavement. etc. I need better answers than that, I need an
explanation way more sublime than that.
First and foremost, I need answers which are congruent with my personal
experiences with consciousness, yet not limited to just that. After that, I'm
looking for an elegance missing from
most explanations of consciousness and reality.

I have a problem with the computer simulation and
holographic theories. What entities
anywhere would have the time to write programs and sub-programs to create
everything we see, hear, feel and do?
Who is writing all this code, and for what purpose, for what audience or
end user group? Seems lazy to me. If we just say consciousness and reality are
holograms or computer simulations, does that absolve us from a spiritual
purpose?Nifty way to pawn off all our bad moves and mistakes...it was programmed! Sounds similar to another popular movement,
but without the religious figurehead at the center. If everything and all of us are just bits of code, it's
easier to say nothing matters. Computer
simulations who invent computer simulations to entertain themselves with?

I'm looking for the elegant beauty that certainly must be
the foundation of such complex concepts as consciousness and reality. Dear, miss-guided Timothy Leary set me upon the path of the psychonaut; with some
help from Carlos Castaneda of
course. I see Tim Leary as miss-guided
because when he had the hearts and attention of perhaps millions; he gave the
wrong advice, he got it backwards! What he should have said on that sunny California
day, was Turn on, Tune in, &
Take Over!! Had he uttered those
words instead, we would be seeing a very different world, and reality today. But, I digress...

The quest to understand consciousness is a lot like working
a jigsaw puzzle without benefit of knowing what the finished puzzle will look
like. Not only are we missing the top of
the puzzle box to guide us; we also seem to be lacking an owners manual for
this human instrument our consciousness resides in and directs.

"Science;
is questions that may never be answered

Religion; is answers that may
never be questioned"

Dr. Albert Hoffmann's accidental discovery of LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide in 1938
ushered us into the age of psychoactive compounds which when taken allow us to
experience unknown realms of our consciousness, and reality. Thirty years later; the compound he
discovered was influencing a generation of Americans. Lamentably the greater potential of LSD is
wasted on those who only take it recreationally to "enhance" their
perceived reality. With the proper Intent, setting and conditions, Albert's
little wonder drug can show you some interesting and profound things about
consciousness and reality. Conversely,
if done when in a foul mood, or emotional turmoil, it can immerse one into many
hours of extreme psychological discomfort, aka, the bad trip.

Native American shamans of course have a very long history
of using Peyote and other
psychoactive mushrooms in both spiritual and ceremonial expressions. These natural
chemicals have the ability to open the conscious mind to vaster realities,
indeed even allowing one to travel in other realms, experiencing other entities,
and spirit animals. Or you can just spend four hours laying in a field staring
at the clouds & feeling all floaty. Once again, those who use such drugs to "escape"
the reality they created to begin with are missing out on a universe of
understanding.

For the serious psychonaut there is a compound of all
natural ingredients hailing from south america called Ayahuasca. It isn't
something you "try" or take recreationally, or even without
supervision & guidance. It's that
potent; and it will show yourself to you, warts and all, and seldom in a
gentile enjoyable way. It rocks your
world, literally!

Then there is Iboga, or Ibogaine
as it's called nowadays which has found a home in the medical community as an
aid to breaking addictions. Iboga is
another psychoactive plant. It is an Indole Alkaloid; and in spiritual use it
has two distinct phases. The first is
the visionary state, followed by the Introspection state lasting from 4 to 6 hours.
Iboga is considered an Oneirogen
due to it's dreamlike effects. The
sensation is very similar to lucid dreaming, that is to say, being fully
conscious while in a dream state. Iboga
shows yourself to you much like Ayahuasca
does, but is way gentler and somewhat easier on the physical form. Again, as with Ayahuasca, best results with Iboga are obtained with the help of
supervised guidance.

"Life
lived in the absence of the psychedelic experience that primordial

shamanism is based on is life
trivialized, life denied, life enslaved to the ego"

~
Terrence
McKenna ~

Being constantly intrigued by that untapped 90% of the human
brain; I couldn't help but become an avid fan of the late Terrence McKenna and his explorations into the realms of human
consciousness. It is perhaps interesting
to note that while McKenna advocated mostly the spiritual use of mushrooms, he
also occasionally spoke of their recreational value as well. McKenna was a true shaman, being extremely
well versed and experienced with most if not all psychoactive substances. He long maintained that the only reasons
governments ban such things is because they tend to free the mind, and then the
soul, from the machinations of ego and "society." Ironically, nearly everyone who denounces psychoactive
substances, has never used them.

Consciousness isn't something that can be easily
categorized, or crammed into a single confined conceptual "space" or
definition. Another shaman named Stuart Wilde once said that "if you can't explain it in 25 words or less
it isn't the Godforce" and yet most of us find defining consciousness
akin to nailing smoke to the wall. We
know that we have it, yet we don't really
understand it all that well most of the time; because if we did,
we'd be doing better things with our lives!

After hearing about the substance DMT for many years, I got my first chance to experience it about
four years ago. DMT, or, N,N
Dimethyltryptamine is created by the human body, in the pineal gland, and
is a chemical released at death. It is a
structural and functional analog for serotonin and melatonin. Also naturally occurring in over 50 plant
species from ten families, DMT is one of
the active ingredients in Ayahuasca
as well.

All of the experts agree, DMT
is the most powerful psychoactive agent known to science. That's a ringing endorsement for any well
traveled psychonaut. However, for being
the worlds leading psychoactive substance; the effects of DMT are exceedingly, maddingly brief. The average DMT
trip lasts only five minutes or so!

"There
is a transcendental dimension beyond language;

It's just hard as hell to talk
about."

~ Terrence
McKenna ~

While the clinical studies conducted by Dr. Rick Strassman used injections, the more contemporary users
today are smoking or vaporizing it. In
his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule,
Dr. Strassman's volunteers were injected with a serum; I believe the clinical
subjects with perhaps purer extracts may have had experiences lasting somewhat
longer than five minutes.

As with any psychoactive substance, one's mood, attitude and
frame of mind will influence the kind of experience one has; and this is very true with DMT. Before my first DMT experience I had the benefit of others who
shared their experiences with me, trying to prepare me a little. A little was about all the help it was,
because more than any other substance or compound, DMT
is a very personal experience. Are there
hallucinations? Oh, you bet! Better and stronger by far than any I've had
on LSD.

My first experience with DMT
was smoking some with a friend who extracted it himself from various
plants. It was late afternoon when I hit
the pipe load of DMT. As suggested by my friend, I took 2 full hits
from the pipe then put it down on the coffee table. For a moment it seemed nothing was happening,
then after a few seconds there was this rush of wind and a slight wormhole vortex
effect, then the room was back to normal.
After a few moments I was about to tell my friend I wasn't impressed,
when my front door opened and in walks a little gnome-like fellow who looked
shiny and nearly translucent. Without so
much as a nod, this trans-dimensional fellow strolls right by my chair, goes
into my kitchen, opens the refrigerator and climbs in, shutting the door behind
him.

No previous experience with hallucinogens had ever been so
sharp, clear and life-like. This was
some serious kind of Blu-Ray
hallucination ... or was it something more.
As I marveled over the resolution of the hallucination another entity
drifted in thru my front wall, floated right up to me, looked me in the eye -
and winked at me just before
disappearing faster that whiskey at last call.
I looked over to my friend and while it was evident he was watching
something, it was clear he was seeing something entirely different than
myself. Waiting to see if anything else
would happen, I noticed the room had a strange look and feel to it. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on
right then in the moment. When the
effects subsided a few minutes later I told my friend about the little entities
I encountered. He told me that seeing
them is indicative of the first stage
of DMT, he called them gatekeepers,
Terrence McKenna called them Machine
Elves. My friend then explained to me that there are three stages, or levels to a DMT
trip, and meeting the gate keepers is just the first. Then he told me that very few people will
experience all three levels the first time or two. There is a real tendency to become stuck in
phase one because of the "oh wow"
factor, without realizing there is more in store.

Regarding dosages for the intrepid psychonaut; opinions vary,
depending on the method of intake. For
smoking DMT, the following is a helpful
guideline:

Threshold dose is
from 2 to 5 milligrams

A Light dose is from
10 to 20 milligrams

common dose is from
20 to 40 milligrams

A strong dose is from
40 to 60 milligrams

Be very accurate when measuring doses, to avoid a stronger
dose than you want!

The first level of DMT
is the realm of the gatekeepers as previously described. There is nothing wrong with hanging out here
a few times until you get a sense of the room so to speak.

The second level is
known as Blast Off, and you'll
know you're entering it by the marked sensation of rushing through a portal,
vortex type wormhole, similar to the initial whoosh, but much stronger.
The second level consists of deep introspection of self, along with a
powerful sensation of disassociation.
You feel out of body with a
sensation of being wide awake and conscious within a dream. This level provides a very
non-confrontational environment for self assessment.

The third level is
called No Mans Land because here
we find a very broad range of environment and experience. Meetings with aliens and other entities is
exceedingly common; as is the teleportation to fantastic realms beyond the one
we know so well. It is in level three
where real interactions with other life forms occurs, not to be confused with
the gatekeepers and machine elves in level one.
The most deeply profound spiritual experiences happen here. Many have said they spoke with the Godforce. The surreal experiences and sensations
encountered here have led some to feel like they were dying.

"It isn't
what you have, or where you are, or what you are doing

that makes you happy or unhappy,
It's what you think about."

~ Dale Carnegie ~

My first experience with DMT
was so realistic and profound that it took several days to process & integrate what I'd seen, and
experienced. My friend had generously
left me with several more doses, and told me that while some folks take DMT daily, such might not be advised for
beginners like me. Suddenly I found
myself of two minds on a couple of important questions. When did I want to do it again, and whether
to read up on the subject before the next experience? With the first experience being so very
positive and enjoyable, I was eager to go again within a few days, but should I
wait? I also wanted it to be very much
organic & authentic; would
researching it further perhaps influence my next experiences with DMT?

The second time I smoked DMT
was about two weeks later, about 2:00
in the afternoon.

My friend had suggested that doing DMT outside in the daylight was a peak experience, for him; so I
thought I'd give it a try. There is a
secluded little koi pond on a corner of my property; splendid setting for a DMT meditation I figured. This time I did a brief intention meditation
first, after just sitting for a few minutes.
After smoking the DMT, the whooshing vortex thing happened again just as
before during which everything around me was somewhat blurry & out of focus. A few seconds later, everything was back in
focus, but far from normal. I could see
the photosynthesis happening in the leaves of trees, like tiny droplets of
iridescent pearlessence driving home on the freeway. I could hear the sound sunlight makes. I could see the color of the breeze, and when
a curious squirrel peeked around a tree trunk at me, I could see inside him
like X-ray vision.

Hologram my ass!

I looked down at my feet which became tree roots growing
into the ground, and I felt not only like I was connected with Gaia, but a part
of her for the first time. Whatever I
looked at, I could see the entirety of it, all in the most perfectly complete
detail. Subtle movement in the grass caught
my eye, and when I gazed at it closer I could see small unknown little multi-legged
creatures all calmly going about their business, oblivious to my presence. Turning my attention away from the tiny
creatures I was startled to see a machine elf sitting next to me, hell, he
might have been there all along. He
wasn't looking at me, so, not wanting to spoil the moment I just sat there
silently next to him gazing at the leaves.
I became so focused on the trees and flying insects I never saw or heard
my visitor depart, but as I got up to return to the house a voice on the breeze
said I could return whenever I wanted, presumably as long as I had some DMT extract.

After collecting a couple more DMT
experiences as a framework for reference; I began studying & researching the chemical. Dr. Strassman seems to be one of the
preeminent scholars researching this field, along with Terrence McKenna, and
Graham Hancock. When I felt my
background information was adequate, a few weeks after my second experience; it
felt right to have another go at it.
Whereas most of the experiences I actually had are rather common to
everyone, I was ready for the deeper, fuller experiences I'd been reading
about. I figured for my third time,
upping the dose was in order.

"If
the words 'life, liberty &
the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own
consciousness, then the

Declaration of Independence
isn't worth the hemp its written on."

~ Terrence
McKenna ~

Now the books, experts and my own experience agree that DMT is nothing like psilocybin or even LSD. It isn't a kaleidoscopic roller coaster ride
full of rapid fire hallucinations like acid, and it isn't even very similar to
mushroom trips. I wanted an
"A" ticket ride, so for this experience I nearly doubled the previous
doses. This time it was well after dark,
and I was in a mood to experiment. I
have several videos of moving fractal images set to relaxing music, which are
stunningly beautiful normally, so I decided to have one playing on the big
screen TV before I smoked a bowl of DMT, just to see what would happen.

Big mistake.

After doing my best to assimilate the entire double dose,
the whooshing vortex sensation came as expected, however at the same time I saw
& heard water flooding out of my
stereo speakers instead of relaxing music; and the moving fractals were no
longer confined to the TV, or the screen, but began swirling about all over the
room, and directly at me. The moving
fractal images followed the walls &
ceiling like laser beams, and at once I was inside of a 3D kaleidoscope of
cascading shapes and colors. Within 30
seconds it was difficult to see much detail in the room as the spiraling
fractals wrapped around me like a giant psychedelic python. The sensations were overwhelming after two
minutes, but I was determined to ride it out.
All things considered, leaving the safety of the chair seemed
unwise.

Four minutes in and instead of wearing down, the experience
was actually getting more intense with every passing second; and was becoming a
concern. Whatever music was on that disc, it came out like sounding like some kind of
alien tinnitus on steroids; a sharp buzzing noise, which was getting
louder. I could also hear the sharp,
crisp sounds made by swirling fractals passing near my head; a sound not unlike
sheets on the clothesline being flapped by a breeze. Time itself seemed very fluid and flexible as
I soon realized I had no idea of how much time had passed so far. I thought to just turn off the TV, but I couldn't find the remote - because I couldn't see the desk it sat upon;
everything was what was on the
fractal DVD,
and that's all I could see around me.

At some point I saw my open bedroom door just five feet or
so away, knowing my bed was just beyond somehow inspired me that I could make
it before it disappeared again. From the
doorway I literally threw my body on the bed with swirling fractals chasing me
the whole way. I curled up in a fetal
position, completely disoriented and unable to see anything but the fractals
flowing from the big screen like lava from a volcano. I didn't feel especially threatened, beyond
wondering if I was dying; because once on the bed it felt very much like I was
sinking down into a whirlpool, so I just relaxed into it now that injury from
falling down was less likely.

Closing my eyes made zero difference because even with eyes
shut and covered by my hands, I still continued to see the gyrating, swirling
fractals in every imaginable color. This
continued for what felt like an hour before things started winding down. When the fractals melted away the feeling of
vertigo subsided and I could again see the familiar surroundings of home sweet
home. The wall clock said the whole
experience had lasted a total of seventeen minutes!

I want to meet the computer geek who can write code for that!

That third experience with DMT
was profound enough that I knew I didn't want to try it again for a while. I'd be needing the time to process my
experiences. To be sure; I entered the
experience lightheartedly with no intent other than exploration and
experimentation. That as it turns out is
insufficient as well as being ill-advised.
As previously mentioned, this is the most powerful psychedelic on the
planet.

Six months after, I again felt like it was time to try DMT, having arrived at the conclusion that
twice a year would be a good frequency of use for me. I would attempt to
describe the next couple of trips if
I didn't feel my grasp of language inadequate to the task. Perhaps the accumulation of experience
transcends language altogether, nobody knows!
I have come to understand why Rick Strassman calls DMTthe
spirit molecule I think, and that is because it might just be the key to
unlocking the rest of our brains, and perhaps even lead us to that owners
manual for being human. We could really
use that right about now.

"My
technique is don't believe anything. If
you believe in something;

you're automatically precluded
from believing its opposite."

~
Terrence
McKenna ~

From my empirical research with this substance I have come
to believe that the term trip is more
descriptive of DMT than it is LSD; because I think it takes consciousness to
another place. I think
that's what the whooshing vortex thing is all about, actually traveling somewhere else, even if its
only the undiscovered country of that unused 90% of our brains.

When it comes to
comparing DMT to taking LSD; let me put it this way, over the last four
decades I've done my share of acid, (and some of yours); and none of them can
compare to the DMT experience. LSD is
a ride, DMT
is a journey!